Gordon Shedden takes pole position at Donington Park
Reigning champion Gordon Shedden took pole position for the first of tomorrow’s British Touring Car Championship races at Donington Park, ahead of Frank Wrathall.
Honda Racing Team driver Shedden set a best time of 1.10.074 with five minutes to go, pipping Dynojet’s Wrathall, who had impressively held top spot from just after halfway through the session.
Drivers looking for late improvements were thwarted by a red flag with a minute to go, after Aron Smith went off at the final chicane in his Motorbase Performance Ford Focus.
Eurotech Racing’s Andrew Jordan set the third fastest time in his Honda Civic, ahead of Shedden’s team-mate Matt Neal, with championship leader Jason Plato taking fifth, carrying maximum ballast, in his Triple Eight MG.
Adam Morgan continued his good form with sixth in the Cicely Racing Toyota Avensis, ahead of Sam Tordoff, Colin Turkington, Dave Newsham and Jeff Smith.
In a very tight session, the first seven cars were all within half a second of pole.
Outside the top 10, Tom Onslow-Cole was an excellent 11th in his Tony Gilham Racing Volkswagen CC, while James Kaye again took Jack Sears Trophy honours in his AmD Tuning Volkswagen Golf. His time of 1.11.867 put him 20th overall, ahead of David Nye and Liam Griffin.
There was a minor spin for Rob Austin in his Audi A4 at McLeans in the final minutes, before Smith’s off brought the session to a slightly premature end.
The first of tomorrow’s three races takes place at 11:37 BST.
